Subgenus Gerbillus. Lay (1983:339) questioned the synonymy of bilensis with pulvinatus as allocated without comment by F. Petter (1975b): "Inasmuch as these two forms were described from opposite ends of the rift valley in Ethiopia that are separated by at least 700 km and because they have not been critically compared, G. bilensis should be regarded as distinct pending revision." Until that comparison is available we include bilensis in G. pulvinatus. Yalden et al. (1996) would also include dunni as a synonym of G. pulvinatus. Records from Djibouti are documented by Pearch et al. (2001), who also provided a good description of the species.